Reefing sails.



PATENTED OCT. 30,- 1906.

M. TORNOW. .REEFING SAILS. Arpnrourou FILED SEPT. 7. 1905.

MAX TORNOW, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

REEFINGVSAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct; 30, 1966.

Application filed September 7, 1905. Serial No. 277,380.

To all whom it mayconcern:

Be it known that I, MAX TORNOW, a subjectof the German Emperor, and a resident of the-borough of the Bronx, city, county,

and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Reefing.

Sails, of which the following is a description.

The object I have in view is-the production ofa device for reefing sails which may be 'attached to existingvessels, which will comprise few and simple'parts, will be easily ap-- plied, easily manipulated, not liable to get out of order, and which can be relied upon to be effective at all times.

Other objects will more fully appear from the disclosure contained in the following description and accompanying drawings.

I attain the objects of my invention by the apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment, and in which Figure 1 isa view in perspective of a portion of a vessel and sail, showing the apparatus in position. Fig. 2 is a top view, partially insection, of the rolling device. Fig. 3 is a sectionalview thereof'taken on the lines 3 '3 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken through the boom and sail and showing the boom-traveler; and Fig. 5 is a view of the end:

of-the'boom, partly in section, showing the boom-swivel. I In all of the views like parts are designated by the same reference characters.

In carrying out my invention I providemeansfor so mounting the boomthat it may be rotated :and the foot of the sail wound up -u on it in a manner analogous to the action- 0 a shade roller and curtain. The sail may be wound up by the rotation of the boom to any desired extent, and therefore reefbands or knittles will not be required, and the area of sail may be reduced to any-desired extent.

In the drawings, 1 represents the boom, 2 the sail, and 3 the-mast. made with or without taper, as desired, itbeing found in practice that a tapered boom will permit the sail to roll sufficiently smooth upon it. boom is provided with agroove sufficiently large to contain thebolt-rope 4 on thefoot ofthe sail; The sail may then be secured to the boom by any suitablemeans, such as a lacing The boom may be Preferably the upper side of the 5, passing through eyelets formed in'the-sail above the bolt-rope (see Fig. 1) and holding: the foot of the sail smoothly upon the boom with the bolt-rope within the groove.

The boom is secured to the mastby the" rolling device 6 This device comprises the boom-fitting 7, adapted to be attached to the forward end of the boom andbe supported upon the jaw portion 8 in such a manner'that' it may be rotated. The boom-fitting is-pro= vided with a socket, preferably arranged in the form of four wings 9 The four wings are 6 5 preferred to three or-less, as-theymay be more" readily bent'in attaching the fittings to exist-- ing booms. The wings=9 are provided with 1 holes 10, which are preferably countersun le for the passage of'screwsor bolts forattach ment to the boom. The boom-fittingciaals'o:

rovided'with a rectangular block 11', (see' ig. 3 and in dotted lines,- Fig. 2,) adapted to enter a notch cut in the forwardend. of theboom. By employing the block 11 engagingwith the notch'the torsional strain upon the fitting will be communicated to the-boomwithout straining-the screws: Theofliceof the screws will be, therefore, mainly to resiststrains'in a longitudinal direction.

' I The boom-fitting is providedwith a'n ex tension or stem 12, whichenters acircular bearingwformed in the jaw portion 8. The end of the stem is headed orriveted to-form a flange 13, soas'to hold the partsr together: and yet permit the readyturning-pf the boom-fitting upon the" jaw portion. The boom-fitting is also provided with a ratchet wheel 14, by meansof which it may berotated. It is also provided with a:lever -15,; o having a bifurcated extremity which strad-- dles the ratchet-wheel, and is journaled upon the extension 12 so that'it may be readilyro tated. This arm-15 carries a pawl' 16, pro---- vided with an adjusting-handle 17 adjacent 5 to the operating-handle 15. A pawl 18 is suitably mounted upon an extension formed upon the side of the jaw :ortion Sandisso arranged as to engage witli theratchet-wheel 14. If necessary, springs are providedto in sure the engagement of I the ,pawls w'ith the ratchet; but it formed as illustrated the pawls will'rest within the notches of the ratchet.-

The jaw-portion 8 is provided with a roller IO 5 19, supported upon abolt 20' or other suitable i u on it as will ever occur in actual 1 clot shaft and so arranged as to engage with the mast. This roller permits the ready upand down movement of the jaw portion upon the mast irrespective of the torsional strain upon it. v

The boom-traveler 21 is adapted to support one of the sheet-blocks 22 intermediate the ends of the boom. It is formed of a single annular piece or ring portion of metal 23 sufiiciently large to nearly surround the boom with as much of the sail when wound practice. e ends of the ring part are arranged close together, but sufiiciently removed to permit the sail to pass between them. The corners are preferably rounded so as not to injure the and for the same reason they may be covered'with leather or canvas, which will also prevent staining the sail. The boomtraveler also comprises the part 24, which may be welded or otherwise firmly secured to the ring 23, but which, however, need not extend as completely around the boom as the ring 23. v The part 24 is for the purpose of supporting the sheet-block and permit it to pull at an angle without forcing one of the ends on the part 23 against the sail, the block V extremities. 1

sliding upon the tion. The ends of the part 23 are provided with upward extended portions 25, arranged on each side of the sail and having rounded These upwardly extending portions or fingers are for the purpose of preventing the ring 23 from being rolled up with the sail by the free end of the ring catching under the sail when the boom is turned.

The boom-swivel 26 comprises a plate secured to a bolt or other support 27, which may be screwed, into the outer end of the boom. A band 28 may be employed to prevent the latter from splitting. The boomswivel is provided with an eye 29 for attachment to the topping-lift 30 and an eye 31 at the bottom for attachment of the free end of the sheet 32. Below its point of suspension the swivel is provided with an enlarged portion 33, forming a weight and for the purpose of preventing the swivel turning with the boom. A cord or rod 34 connects the boomswivel and the boom-traveler and prevents the latter from moving along the boom in the direction of pull of the shee The operation is as follows: In order to reef, the handle 15 is manipulated, causing the pawl 16 to engage with the ratchet 14 and rotate the latter. The handle may be reciprocated, the boom being prevented from turning in the reverse direction by means of the pawl 18. As the boom is rotated the sail willbe wound up upon it, causing the jaw portion 8 of the boom-fitting to slide up the wm'ast. The connections of the lufl of the sail with the hoops can be cast off as the boom is part 24 to the properposiraised and the sail may be reduced any desired extent. Reverse rotation of the boom will be prevented by the pawl 18. The entire sail, with the boom, maybe now lowered by slacking away the halyards until the boom is in the desired position. The roller 19 will prevent jamming of the jaws 8 upon the mast, which would otherwise occur owing to the tendency of the boom to twist, as the sail is entirely upon one side of it. In order to shake out the reefs, the sail and boom are first hoisted up the mast. The pawl 18 is then disconnected from engagement with the ratchet 14 and the boom permitted to turn to unwind the sail by disconnecting the pawl 16. In reefing or shaking out reefs the boomtraveler would have a tendency to wind up with the sail were it not for the extensions 25. Similarly, the boom-swivel would turn and the gear become fouled unless a strain. were kept u on the sheet. With a strain upon. the sheet t e difliculty of reefing would be greatly increased, as the force required to roll the boom would have to be greater. With the extensions 25 on the boom-traveler and the weight 33 on the boom-swivel the sheet may be kept slack while reefing or shaking out reefs and the operation rendered much more easy and expeditious without danger of the gear getting fouled.

While the invention is described and illustrated as applied to a single fore-and-aft sail, it is to be understood that it may be applied to any kind or number of sails as desired.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with the boom, of a fitting engaging with one end of the boom, the said fitting having a socket, and a block engaging with a notch formed in the end of the boom.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with the sail and the boom, of a boom-swivel on the free end of the boom, the said swivel having an attachment for the sheet, and a weight to prevent rotation of the swivel.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with the sail and the boom, of a boom-swivel on the free end of the boom, connections with the sheet, a weight below the point of suspension of the swivel, a boomtraveler intermediate the ends of the boom, the said traveler surrounding the boom, and having extensions or fingers on each side of the sail and supporting a sheet-block, and connections between the boom-swivel and boom-traveler to hold the latter in position.

4. In a reefing-gear, the combination with means for rolling the sail upon the boom, a jaw-fitting engaging with the mast, and a roller within the jaw and engaging with the folds of the, sail.

mast, and a boom-traveler for the sheet, the I This specification signed and witnessed.

said boom-traveler having a ring portion this 6th day of September, 1905. which nearly surrounds the boom, and hav- M AX TORNOW' ing extensions or fingers at the free ends on each side of the sail, to prevent the free ends Witnesses: of the ring from beingcaught between the LEONARD H. DYER,

\ J NO. ROBT. TAYLOR. 

